Gustard R26

I am an engineer. I have run testing labs and worked for the federal government, military, nuclear energy....I am trained in testing and evaluation.  I have heard what I need to hear.

That’s great.  Good for you.  That has nothing to do with audio equipment evaluation.  I’ve professionally reviewed high-end audio equipment for 17 years, and if I ever submitted a review after a week of listening I would’ve been fired.  Add that to the fact that no one here prefers the A26 to the R26 and I think it’s fair to say your conclusions are suspect.  Reviewing any new piece of audio equipment and making any firm conclusions in the first week is ludicrous.  Period. 

@soix

I too find it a little strange that an “engineer” who will argue up and down that it all one’s and zero’s is saying a more costly dac is better because it has double the ladders “to correct the errors”. Also to compare the A to the R also makes no sense. One is r2r the other delta sigma. They are to very distinctly different sounding tech that will depend on an individuals preference of the sound signature they like. Claiming people are only parroting you tube reviews? All the comments snd sites I have read come from people who actually own the dac. I will never push anything on others but only try to offer my opinion and how it works for me.

@soix

I am an engineer. I have run testing labs and worked for the federal government, military, nuclear energy....I am trained in testing and evaluation.

I have heard what I need to hear.

i too chuckled when i read this... what an awful handicap for someone to have in achieving the enjoyment and bliss this pursuit can bring! 🤣😉😆

FWIW, I intend to run the R26 (hopefully arriving end of next week) for at least 100 hours before sharing my feedback :)

IME, R2R dacs need significantly more break-in than other types of DAC. But at 100 hours, I should at least get a basic idea of the true character of the Gustard R26.

I recently purchased the Gustard R26. It replaced the Denafrips Ares ll. It has been fed a signal, and left powered on for approx. 240 hours. IMO it is still improving in presentation. The presentation (source dependent) is large and open in soundstage, transparent without fatigue, and well defined. I think the Ares is slightly warmer. Instrument separation is very good. When using my Rotel MCD-1572 mk2, the Rotel internal DAC sounded better than the Rotel feeding the Ares ll. With the Gustard R26, it sounds better feeding the R26 versus the Rotel internal DAC. Most of my listening is my iFi Zen Stream via 1 foot long USB from Ghent Audio ($20 shipped). I prefer the Ghent over the Cardas I have. I do have a LPS on the Zen. Output of the R26 feeds my Luxman L-550 AX ll via Anti Cable 2.2 RCA. The output of the Luxman feeds my Dynaudio Contour S 1.4's on Dynaudio stands via GR Research 16 strand cables lifted off the floor. I did put some bypass caps on the tweeters. I hope this input is of value to my fellow non-recovering audio addicts:)